Lincheng 17 (6)
Men, the vast majority of whom are stronger than women, always have a stronger desire for power. They don't lack the desire for power, they just can't obtain it temporarily. No matter how strong a woman is, pregnancy will weaken her, and the child will become a hindrance. Men who haven't experienced ten months of pregnancy will never understand this.
“If you knew that the fate of most men in Lincheng was to go to Weicheng, you wouldn’t have this thought,” Yana shook her head. “The best fate for all men in Lincheng is to become the lord of Weicheng or the lord of Lincheng. The lord of Weicheng is on the front line protecting Weicheng. If Weicheng is breached, not all the citizens will be lost, but the lord must die for the city. It’s not hard to choose between risking one’s life for merit and living a peaceful life. Most people will live a law-abiding life. The lords of Weicheng and Lincheng are appointed for life and can never leave Weicheng or Lincheng.”
"The law shouldn't be like this." Mi didn't know why she thought this way. Wasn't Lincheng 17 a good thing?
“I always said the legislation should be stricter,” Qiu agreed from the side.
“No, the law should be compatible with the lower classes,” Mi thought for a moment. “The law is to ensure stability at the lowest level, to ensure that even the most incompetent people can abide by it, and to provide opportunities for the talented to rise.”
"Explain in more detail," City Lord Zara said, raising his head to look directly at Mi.
"I think the law also needs to focus on the major issues and let go of the minor ones. It can't restrict people too much. A life where you can be punished for every little thing is a very unstable factor. Yesterday I saw that people in Lincheng were walking on the right. I don't know why there wasn't a single person walking on the left, but that's not human nature."
“Those who don’t walk on the right will get whipped. Fifty lashes will make anyone behave,” Qiu explained from the side. Mi stared at Qiu. The woman speaking now was almost a completely different person from the Qiu who had walked with Mi before. The current Qiu was clearly more violent and more agitated.
“Have you made sure that everyone who doesn’t walk on the right gets whipped? So those whose homes are on the left have to take a detour? Do you need to have people watching them all the time? How many people would be living off public funds? Won’t these people bend the rules? Even if the law is very strict, people will still have a sense of luck. Otherwise, why would people keep getting whipped?” Mi thought for a moment and said, “The roads in the world are made by people walking. It’s too harsh to whip people just because they walk in the wrong direction.”
“This is indeed a problem, and we are re-planning the streets.” Yana put on her glasses and pushed open a map of the city. “We plan to implement two-way traffic on the main roads first, but the specifics are still under discussion.”
“I’m just giving an example,” Mi said without looking at the map, “The law should make things convenient and beneficial for the people at the bottom, so that they know that the little bit of freedom they lose is exchanged for a greater sense of security.”
"Why do you care about the feelings of the lowest class?" City Lord Zara looked at Mi.
“Perhaps it’s because those in positions of power never lack freedom,” Mi said in a low voice. “People at the bottom already have enough pressure; if they don’t have room to breathe, they’ll explode.”
“They’re just stupid,” Qiu shook his head. “For stupid people, all you need to do is let them know what they can and cannot do.”
"Can the people be made to follow a path, but not to understand it?" Mi looked at Qiu. "Everyone has the right to know why. According to you, anyone smarter than you can do whatever you want, and only smart people deserve to live in this world?"
Yana lowered her head and smiled, then pursed her lips when she saw Qiu's glaring eyes: "Our children are very well-educated; they've known these things since they were little."
“The younger the child, the more they should challenge the rules; children are the future of this world.” Mi Shensi paused for a moment, realizing the distorted growth environment of children in Weicheng and Lincheng. She continued, “This situation in Weicheng and Lincheng certainly won’t last forever. In reality, Weicheng and Lincheng have almost no private property to hold onto, which objectively restrains the desires and uprisings of some people. But even so, you are being held hostage by other cities. Once you leave Lincheng, things will change drastically. If a new city lord comes, will the previous city lord’s accounts still be recovered?”
“You’re right, it’s getting harder and harder to collect our debts. If this continues, I’m going to let the Shali people in and let them taste what it’s like to be a Shali.” Qiu slammed his fist on the table. “The funds from Sun City are already three months late.”
"Can a man really recover these accounts?" City Lord Zara looked at Mi with suspicion.
Mi shook her head: "Would you agree to Qiu's proposal?" She continued after seeing the city lord shake his head in rejection of Qiu's proposal: "Because you are mothers, you would not abandon the children of the entire city. Men are not like that. I think there are plenty of men willing to exchange a city for more resources."
"Men are definitely out of the question right now, not until the Shali people are dealt with," said City Lord Zara after hearing Mi's words. "Sun City won't allow it either. For men, they can just find another woman to have a child, but it's different for women. Almost all female city lords have only one child, and that child is their lifeline, ensuring that Lin City won't be controlled by any one family. If it were a man, Lin City would be out of control. A male city lord only cares about his own child; he doesn't care which woman gave birth to it. He can send one to Sun City, and he can have ten more in Lin City. Why do you think Lin City is almost entirely populated by female city lords?"
“It’s supported by the higher-ups, and we can’t escape reality. It’s indeed a dilemma. The smarter a person is, the more they will weigh the gains and losses.” Mi nodded, understanding where Lincheng’s pro-female policy came from. “But won’t there be problems if men and women work together?” This isn’t a modern society full of surveillance cameras. Even if there were, crime still couldn’t be stopped.
“Usually, the husband will arrange for his wife to work under him, or the couple will work together. This serves as both supervision and protection,” Lord Zara replied. “The son works under his mother; family relationships are an important factor in maintaining stability in Lincheng.”
Seeing Qiu's indifferent expression, Mi asked, "Why was this lady chosen as a candidate for city lord?"
"This matter is a bit complicated. There is actually only one heir to the city lord, Roger. The three major powers in Lincheng are the girls' school, the city lord's mansion, and the city defense team. Qiu has now taken over the city lord's mansion guard. In order to prevent Qiu and Yana from joining forces to undermine Roger, one of them must marry Roger."
"Huh?" What kind of operation is this? Politics has never been something Mi could understand.
"We must ensure the authority of the city lord and the smooth implementation of the appointment process. There cannot be a puppet city lord in Lin City, and Lin City cannot be in chaos," City Lord Zara said worriedly. "Roger now has the support of Sidney, the city lord of Lin City 18, and he has become too powerful to control. My time is running out, and I must resolve this hidden danger as soon as possible. Once Roger becomes the city lord of Lin City 17, Lin City 17 will inevitably become an appendage of Lin City 18."
"Won't Lincheng 17 and Lincheng 18 help each other out?"
“Sun City wouldn’t want to see Lin City merge into one,” Yana said. “Let me take you to the school to see how our Ministry of Law makes laws.” Mi followed Yana away.
* * *
"Qiu, we should send her away as soon as possible to avoid involving her."
“I don’t think she’s afraid at all.” Qiu nodded in agreement. “She is indeed a bit too kind.”
“Qiu, if possible, if it’s possible,” Lord Zara said, watching Yana and Mi’s retreating figures, “I will keep her as your advisor. You’ll suffer sooner or later with your personality. Being clever isn’t invincible. Yana is also quite confident in her own cleverness. You should know that cleverness can backfire.”
"I know, stop bringing this up. I'll follow the law and won't change the laws of Lincheng arbitrarily. Let all the fools in the city live well, and you live well too." Qiu was a little impatient and sad. "Lincheng 17 can't live without you, and neither can we."
“Autumn,” Lord Zara stood up, “I’m not worried about Bertram, and the Sun City’s funding isn’t important to us either. What’s most important to us is Lin City 17, no, what’s most important to us is Citadel 17 and Border Post 17.”
“I understand. I won’t withhold anything from the Acropolis,” Qiu said, pressing the city lord back into his chair. “You take good care of yourself. I’ll handle these matters.”
* * *
The white auditorium of the Legal Department of Lincheng Girls' School, which Mi had seen from outside the iron gate with its portico and stone pillars, appeared even more sacred as she approached it.
A debate was being held in a classroom in the middle of the auditorium. Yana and Mi stood at the back door to watch. The debate had been going on for an unknown amount of time. The blackboard behind the judges' table was filled with various clauses and scores.
Two groups of girls were debating, each standing on one side. In the middle, on the judging panel, sat five students and five adults, only one of whom was a man. A teacher stood in front of the blackboard, recording scores based on the judges' names. The audience below consisted of both men and women, each holding notes. The topic of the paper was written on the blackboard: Should women leave the city to farm? Below were rankings, indicating scores for different groups.
"Pregnant women should not engage in strenuous physical labor, especially if they cannot return in time to give birth, as this could endanger their lives."
"When men leave the city alone, most of the women left behind choose to divorce, leading to increasing resentment from the men, and the children are unable to see their fathers. Marriages in neighboring cities are becoming increasingly unstable, with a high divorce rate. There are more and more cases of families with three children and three different fathers, and the children's problems are becoming more and more serious. This is a failure of marriage caused by policy, not the fault of the two parties in the marriage. We have a responsibility to amend this law."
"Women have always been prohibited from leaving the city alone, and this policy cannot be implemented rashly." The other side had clearly given in, "If no one goes, this policy is useless."
"How far is the nearest village from Lincheng?" an adult suddenly asked.
“There’s a warehouse eight miles away,” they discussed for a while, “Let’s build a small village there for family members to live in, and also open a primary school there.” — What a development! Mi was stunned.
“Not only schools, but also farms can be moved there. This will give the outer city of Lincheng a basic shape. Bring me a map.” The two sides suddenly stopped arguing, opened the map, and began calculating. After a while, a pile of requirements and designs were handed to one of the adults: “Please have the technical department calculate the required materials and report them to the mathematics department. We will use this as a model to carry out the Lincheng outer city plan. Objective: To stabilize marriages in Lincheng and solve the problem of too many blended families.”
"How can we attract existing families to leave Lincheng? How should relevant personnel be allocated?" Adults continued to raise different questions.
"We are increasing the number of boarding places in primary schools. This is already being tallied. At the same time, we are dividing the school teachers. Some will be moved to schools in the outer city. We will increase the assessment of teachers in schools in the inner city. We will transfer some people from girls' schools to serve as temporary teachers. We will also add an assessment opportunity for girls' schools this year. Daughters whose whole families move to the outer city will receive bonus points."
"How many people are there exactly?" asked the only man in the room.
"Medva has already organized a team to collect the data, and it can be submitted to the school administration tomorrow."
Yana smiled as she looked at the teenagers, and Mi couldn't help but exclaim, "These kids are truly remarkable!"
"After submitting their proposals, they will personally walk through every corner of the city. Simultaneously, each team will prepare a group opposing the proposals. Opinions from both sides must be submitted at each step and reviewed by the School Affairs Department and the City Lord's Affairs Department before proceeding to the next step. Only after completing all these steps can they defend their theses. The defense is voted on and passed by a panel of judges composed of fellow students, the City Lord's Mansion, and residents of the neighboring city for graduation. Only the final defense will be submitted to me; this defense is these children's graduation thesis and their first job." Yana looked at the children. "Mi, the Lincheng Girls' School has a history of nearly two hundred years; its founder was King Derek I."
"Derrick I?"
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